Cowboys

In a country courtroom, a judge pronounces a verdict based on the testimony of a cowboy standing in front of the clerk’s desk. Caption: Rube Roundup — Yes, your Honor, I admit I shot the tenderfoot, but he asked me to play a game of “ping-pong” with him. / Lead Gulch Justice — Discriminatin’ sarcumstances. When he gets out o’ the hospittle I’ll see thet you get the justice of his commitment. Next case.

comments and context

Comments and Context

As happens with society’s fads and fancies, something of momentary obsession attracts the attention — and, usually, the wit and sarcasm — of cartoonists. Puck in 1902 just did not seem able to embrace the fad of that new indoor game, ping pong.

A bucking bronco as a crowd looks on

Collection

Library of Congress Prints and Photographs

Creation Date

1903-07-28

Men look on as cowboys try to saddle a horse

Collection

Library of Congress Prints and Photographs

Creation Date

1903-07-28

President Roosevelt serving himself food as cowboys look on.

Collection

Library of Congress Prints and Photographs

Creation Date

1903-06-11

President Roosevelt standing with cowboys as breakfast cooks on a fire.

Collection

Library of Congress Prints and Photographs

Creation Date

1903-06-11

Cheering cowboys following the train carrying President Roosevelt

Collection

Library of Congress Prints and Photographs

Creation Date

1903-06-12

Mary Alice Sherman Sewall describes life and ranch activities at the Elkhorn Ranch for her sister.

Collection

Theodore Roosevelt National Park

Creation Date

1886-06-13

Theodore Roosevelt’s secretary thanks John B. Collins for his “kind remembrance” of Roosevelt’s appearance at the Stock Growers Convention in Miles City, Montana. Roosevelt was very pleased with the reception he received in Miles City from both citizens and cowboys.

Collection

Library of Congress Manuscript Division

Creation Date

1911-04-26

Theodore Roosevelt’s secretary explains to Carolyn A. Smith that there are cow-punchers of different nationalities besides American and English, including Mexican, German, and French.

Collection

Library of Congress Manuscript Division

Creation Date

1911-04-19

President Roosevelt wishes Don Hardy, his “companion of the old cow punching days,” a merry Christmas and happy New Year.

Collection

Library of Congress Manuscript Division

Creation Date

1907-12-07

President Roosevelt cannot make such a long trip while Congress is in session. Roosevelt fondly remembers being a delegate for the Little Missouri Stockmen’s Association.

Collection

Library of Congress Manuscript Division

Creation Date

1904-03-25

Assistant Secretary of the Navy Roosevelt advises Daniel W. Meredith the cattle ranching business is down and Meredith would not be profitable for a long time.

Collection

Library of Congress Manuscript Division

Creation Date

1897-08-19

Assistant Secretary of the Navy Roosevelt thanks Lewis F. Foster for the calendar he sent. Roosevelt jokes he is no “broncho [sic]-buster,” despite doing ranch work in the past.

Collection

Library of Congress Manuscript Division

Creation Date

1897-05-25

Gifford Pinchot recommends Alexander Proctor as the sculptor for a statue of Buffalo Bill. Pinchot thinks Proctor “knows and understands the West, and the spirit of the West.”

Collection

Library of Congress Manuscript Division

Creation Date

1917-03-10

Carolyn A. Smith asks Theodore Roosevelt a specific question about cowboys for her essay on cowboy life to present to her literary society, the Kenilworth Society.

Collection

Library of Congress Manuscript Division

Creation Date

1911-04-15

Don Hardy wishes President Roosevelt a merry Christmas. Hardy respects Roosevelt’s decision not to seek renomination and hopes his successor carries on his work.

Collection

Library of Congress Manuscript Division

Creation Date

1907-12-01

Minister to the Argentine Republic Beaupre sends President Roosevelt a belt worn by “one of the most picturesque specimens of the Argentine Gaucho.” The belt, which had been in the man’s family for seventy-five years, is an excellent example of a now-vanishing culture, much like the cowboys in the American West.

Collection

Library of Congress Manuscript Division

Creation Date

1907-11-05

Anthony J. Gavin wishes President Roosevelt a happy birthday, and hopes he will have many many more happy birthdays. Gavin has painted a picture of a cowboy for Roosevelt to remind Roosevelt of pleasant moments he passed in the saddle, both in the west and with their noble regiment.

Collection

Library of Congress Manuscript Division

Creation Date

1906-10-26

Douglas Robinson regrets asking if there was a position available for William. R. Blair. Robinson generally avoids politics. He regrets he cannot accept Roosevelt’s offer to stop by Sagamore as their schedules conflict. Monroe and Stewart have returned from their trip to Merrifield’s ranch. They enjoyed playing cowboys and had a successful hunting trip. They are off to Harvard tomorrow.

Collection

Library of Congress Manuscript Division

Creation Date

1906-09-24

Postcard showing cows in a wooden corral with three men working on a tied-down cow, one is holding a branding iron. A man on horseback in the background. Charles C. Myers notes that the men are branding cattle in Punta Arenas, Chile.

Comments and Context

In Charles C. Myers’s own words, “Branding cattle on one of the ranches near the city.”

Collection

Charles C. Myers Collection